Ready to work together but not sure where to begin? I’ve got ya.
I’ve put together this little onboarding doc just for you. Feel free to read through it or if you just want to get started shoot me an email at: chris@christopherjames.co
My goal is simple: to make your life easier by creating visuals that support the growth of your business.
This guide breaks down how I work—step by step—so you know exactly what to expect.
We’ll kick things off with a call. You can share what you’re dreaming up—maybe it’s a new campaign, fresh content for your site or socials, or something more out of the box. I’ll ask a few easy questions to get a feel for your brand, your vibe, and what success looks like for you.
The more I understand your voice and message, the more intentional and on-brand the imagery will be.
Let’s Chat
2. Creative Direction & Inspiration
Once I get the vision, I’ll put together a light creative plan—this could be a moodboard, sample references, or a rough outline of the look and feel. It’s a collaborative step to make sure we’re aligned before we dive in.
This is where the planning pays off. Shoot days are playful, collaborative, and genuinely rewarding.
I’ll guide the flow, handle the details, and make sure we’re capturing everything we need—plus a few unexpected gems.
3. Shoot Day
4. Post-Production
After the shoot, I spend 1–2 weeks backing up files, creating a clean archive, and narrowing down an initial round of selects. You’ll get a gallery to review and choose your favorites for retouching.
Once I have your picks, I spend another 2 weeks retouching and delivering final images. Everything’s delivered via Dropbox—and don’t worry if you misplace a file. I archive all projects for 5 years.
Need it faster or want extra revisions? No problem—those can always be added on.
Fees & Project Structure
Every project fee is built on three parts:
Artist Fee + Project Expenses + Licensing
Whether it’s a one-time shoot or an ongoing partnership, we’ll find the setup that works best for you.
Artist Fee
This covers everything around my time and creative work—pre-production (planning), production (shoot day), and post-production (editing, delivery, and project care).
| Tier | Monthly Rate | What’s Included | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lite | $700 | 1 shoot day per 2 months | Short notice seasonal needs |
| Standard | $1,000 | 1 monthly shoot, ongoing support, faster turnaround | Brands needing regular content |
| Plus | $2,000 | 2 shoots/month, campaign-level support, on-call planning | High-volume or fast-moving teams |
| Premier | $2,500 | unlimited shoots, strategic content planning, highest flexibility | Multi-team or evolving campaigns |
Option 1: Day rate - $2500
Perfect for one-off shoots. This rate includes everything needed to prep, shoot, and deliver a single-day project.
Option 2: Retainer – Long-term creative partnership
The easiest (and most cost-effective) way to keep your brand media-ready year-round.
Retainers give you priority access, consistent output, and a creative partner who already knows your brand.
All retainers are billed in 6-month blocks and tailored to how often you need content—whether that’s monthly or every other week.
Project expenses
Every image I create is licensed—not sold—which means you’re paying for the rights to use them in specific ways. The standard included license covers things like web, email, and organic social. If you need broader usage—like paid ads, print, packaging, or out-of-home—we can scale the license to fit.
Licensing costs depend on how and where the images will be used. For example, using a photo in an Instagram post is very different from running it on a billboard in Times Square. Most extended licenses range from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars per image, depending on reach and duration. You’ll always get a clear breakdown up front, tailored to your needs.
Licensing
Project expenses
Project expenses cover any out-of-pocket costs needed to bring the shoot to life—things like location rentals, gear, travel, props, styling, or assistants.
I keep this lean and transparent, and you’ll always know what’s being covered ahead of time. These vary depending on the scope of the shoot, but nothing gets greenlit without your approval first.